And once again, Allen Craig’s work was overshadowed. All he did in the Cardinals’ 12-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday was start the game-turning rally, homer and double. Just another day at the office for a slugger who is ticketed to break out as soon as he can stay healthy for an entire season.

“He’s one of the most underrated players in the game,” Jay said. “Look at the numbers he put up this year and last year what he did in the postseason.”

OK, here you are: This season, the 28-year-old Californian hit .307 with 22 homers and 92 RBIs while missing 43 games. Keep that pace for 162 games and it’s 30 and 125. In last year’s World Series, Craig hit three homers, including the go-ahead blast in Game 7, but was denied hero status because of David Freese’s performance. And Craig was playing with a broken kneecap, which resulted in surgery that delayed his 2012 season until May.

“He can flat out rake,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, practically in awe.

Craig’s latest outburst came when the Cardinals needed it most. After suffering a frustrating loss in Game 1, they faced what Beltran admitted was a “must-win” situation on Monday. Lose, and they head to Nationals Park needing three straight wins to keep alive their chances of defending their World Series crown.

Win, and they even the best-of-five Division Series, put the pressure on the playoff-newbie Nationals and hit the road with a decided advantage in the next two pitching matchups.

“After tough losses, we have been able to come back and play good baseball,” Beltran said. “(Monday) was a good example of that.”

This one didn’t start well for the Cardinals, though, as starter Jaime Garcia labored through two innings, allowed the Nationals to take a 1-0 lead and then exited with a bum shoulder.

But by the time Garcia admitted to Matheny that he couldn’t go, Craig already had the Cardinals on track. He led off the second with a single that started a run of four straight hits that led to three runs. Craig then smoked a 93 mph fastball over the left-field wall in the third and the rout was on.

Considering the power arsenal of Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, the 13-hit attack by Craig and Co. was not surprising, even though the Cardinals were held to three hits one day earlier. Zimmermann, who has yet to develop an effective off-speed pitch, wanted to hammer the Cardinals with fastballs. A bad idea turned worse when he failed to try anything else.

“He didn’t make a lot of adjustments,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of his starter, who has given up 16 runs in 13 innings to St. Louis this year. “That’s just a little inexperience. He’s got a very live fastball but his game plan was to basically stay away and pound the zone.”

“We have some good fastball hitters,” Craig said. “We just have to not miss the pitches that he gives us. We’ve didn’t miss too many today.”

The Cardinals also haven’t missed many opportunities to bounce back after a disheartening defeat. Going back to last October, they are 7-1 following a loss in the postseason.

“The easy thing for everyone to do would be to put our head down and get upset about a tough loss but that doesn’t get anyone anywhere,” Craig said. “We have done a really good job of staying positive in the clubhouse and sticking close as a unit and just worrying about the present day.”

The experience and confidence the Cardinals gained from last year’s run figured to pay dividends against the young Nationals, and they are. Besides Zimmermann’s inability to adjust, phenom Bryce Harper ran the Nationals out of a rally and the team’s normally tight defense also let them down, with two errors and a number of fumbles in the outfield.

“We’re a very young ballclub,” Johnson said. “This experience, it’s a quick study. This is the time you see what happens against good clubs if you don’t make adjustments.”

If they don’t adjust to Craig, they could make him a star. The guy is too good to remain overshadowed for much longer.